


asymptote

by eternalmagic



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Gen, annabeth and grover appear very briefly but dont talk much, bc i love the idea of percy and hazel having a very close encounter before officially meeting, small scene rewrite
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-12
Updated: 2018-11-12
Packaged: 2019-08-22 12:25:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,860
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16597880
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eternalmagic/pseuds/eternalmagic
Summary: asymptote: a curve in a line that results in either end approaching zero, but never actually crossing the axis[ or, hazel and percy almost met. and then they actually did. ]





	asymptote

**Author's Note:**

> so, i am in the middle of rereading all my riordan books, and just finished son of neptune, which happens to be my favorite of hoo. anyway, came across the last of hazel's blackouts and remembered an old thought of mine that i wanted to write out. sorry this is unbeta'd, but i hope you enjoy!

She had never thought that she would relive this part of her life with someone at her side, but Hazel has to admit that having Frank following her, their hands entwined, is reassuring. She squeezes his hand briefly, reminding herself that this time she isn’t alone in Asphodel, and leads him along.

They sit in a grove of poplar trees after what feels like an eternity of walking, and talk a little about the judges of Death, and her final fate to wander Asphodel for all time. Elysium shimmers in the distance, taunting Hazel with what could have been--she could have been there, enjoying eternal happiness. She could have had a chance at rebirth, a new life should she want it.

But Hazel thinks again to Queen Marie, and their last night alive. Hazel knows that she did the right thing, fighting for her mother to get better than the Fields of Punishment.

Hazel glances down once more to the firewood that Frank has entrusted to her, turning it over in her hands. How unfair, she thinks--how unfair that their lives seem to stack so much against them. This wood is so small already...Hazel feels her heart seizing painfully in her chest at the thought of Frank’s life being cut short. He deserves better, no matter how this may balance out his supposed abundance of gifts.

She feels Frank’s eyes on her as she tucks it gently into her inner coat pocket, smiling gently at him. “I’m honored that you trust me with this.” She murmurs.

Frank smiles in that way that makes her heart flutter. “I don’t think I could let anyone else know just yet. If ever.”

In spite of this being a dream, Hazel’s breath catches in her chest. She grips Frank’s hand, thankful yet again that he has joined her during this blackout.

“So.” Frank heaves a breath, turning his attention to the sprawling fields just beyond their grove of poplar trees. “We just...wait here?”

Hazel hums, turning to let her eyes wander over the spirits around them. “Eventually, Nico will find me here. But until then...we wait.”

The Underworld is quiet--Hazel could never forget that considering that sometimes in her dreams she’s still wandering these fields. Trying to reach her father’s palace. Trying to find a place to sit. Trying to forget. In the distance, the Fields of Punishment rage, and even the screams that reach her ears are faint. Once or twice, she thinks she hears Cerberus snarling and barking, keeping the Underworld safe. From what, hazel couldn’t say.

She loses track of her mind, her thoughts, content to sit hand in hand with Frank until the dream version of her brother would come to collect her. Her mind wanders, wondering over their quest, her life before her death, what should happen if they free Thanatos. Has she done enough to truly earn Elysium…?

Frank shifting to look behind them jolts her out of her thoughts. She glances over. “What is--”

The son of Mars makes a small noise, putting a finger to his lips. He cranes his neck, frowning. “Do you hear that?”

Hazel blinks before tuning her ear to whatever Frank seems to be hearing. It isn’t hard--soon she picks up Cerberus barking, though it’s less menacing than she remembers. There’s some sort of alarm going up from the entrance and the judgement pavilion and before too long a handful of spirits chatter as they pass, wearing modern security uniforms.

“Wonder what’s going on.” Frank mumbles.

Hazel’s brows draw together. “I...think I remember this. Time is always funny here, but I remember some kind of commotion happening not long before Nico came to me. Alarms. Cerberus barking. I wonder what caused it.”

A rustling of the tall grass nearby startles both Frank and Hazel. Both demigods turn in time to see what must be the spirits making the noise burst into the poplar grove.

Hazel knows instantly that trio now standing before her are not spirits at all--they’re mortal, still alive. There’s a faun in disguise as a human; his shoes fit poorly and a cap hanging from one small horn which is the only reason she can recognize what he is. He looks a little more put together than the fauns back in New Rome, which Hazel finds odd. And then a girl, her blonde hair pulled back from her grimy face. A cap is shoved into her back pocket, and a leather cord with beads like the ones Percy wears is around her neck.

Frank and Hazel exchange a look. At his questioning expression, Hazel shrugs--if this happened, she doesn’t remember it well.

“I think we lost them.” The girl says, heaving a breath. She bends over, dropping her hands onto her knees. “For now, at least.”

The faun bleats quietly, clearly nervous. “It’s only a matter of time until he sends the Kindly Ones after us. Or sets Cerberus loose.”

The third figure, hidden behind the faun and the girl, finally speaks. Hazel feels her mouth drop as a somewhat familiar voice says, “Let’s hope not. I don’t think Annabeth has another rubber ball.”

Hazel and Frank both crane their neck to see the other boy. He’s bent over as well, frame bent over a blue backpack. He takes a deep breath and stands straight, and in an instant Hazel recognizes him.

He’s younger, yes--perhaps no older than Hazel is. She can see it in the still-there roundness to his face, way his clothes sit awkwardly on his frame the way it does on most 12 or 13 year old boys. But the black windblown hair, the sea green eyes…

This is Percy. Hazel would bet her second life on it.

“Ugh.” This vision of their friend grumbles, his voice not as deep as they know it to be. He slumps, clearly fatigued. “Can I just dump this thing? It weighs a ton all of a sudden.”

“It’s our only pack now, Seaweed Brain.” The blonde girl says, standing straight and settling her hands on her hips. “And it’s a gift from a god. I don’t want _that_ god getting mad at us because we dumped his gift.”

This younger Percy pouts in a way that Hazel has seen the Percy they know do a couple of times, shoulders slumping. “Can we at least sit here for a second, then”

“I think a few minutes might be okay.” The faun shifts on his feet. “But it’s probably better to keep going on. We have to get to the palace right away.”

Hazel and Frank watch the trio of kids talk to amongst themselves--something about a _bolt_ , and a deadline, and how to get out--in awe.

“Is that really…?” Hazel trails off, unable to finish her sentence.

Frank watches the trio gather their things and start off again in the direction of the palace looming in the distance. “I think it may be. But...”

They don’t get a chance to think on it more. Before they know it, they turn to find Nico di Angelo, the day he brought Hazel out of the Underworld and into her second life.

 

  
The quest goes on, and Hazel forgets the vision of Percy from the blackout. Even when they learn that he’s a son of Poseidon, a Greek demigod like Octavian had warned, they don’t ask about the vision of him in the Underworld.

For good reason. They’re all a little preoccupied.

It’s only when they wandering New Rome after dinner, watching the city as the rebuilding process begins, that Hazel remembers.

Percy had admitted quietly that he finally remembered his life before arriving in the Wolf House, still moving in the somewhat shy way he had during dinner, when the eyes of all the legion were on him.

Hazel watches as the new praetor twists a bead--the one with the trident--on his necklace. “I guess...if you wanted to know anything about me, just ask. I know so much about the both of you now, it’s only fair.”

Frank seems a bit at a loss for words, but something flickers up in the back of Hazel’s mind. She bumps Percy’s arm with her own.

“I have one, actually.” Hazel huffs a tiny laugh at the look Percy gives her. “It’s not bad, I promise.”

She explains what she and Frank had seen in the last of her blackouts--the commotion in the Underworld, the young son of Poseidon they had seen with two companions.

“So…” Hazel shrugs. “Did you actually go to the Underworld?”

Percy doesn’t say much until she’s finished, but he nods. He turns away, scratching behind his ear. “Well...a couple of times.”

“A _couple_?” Frank says--well, more shouts in surprise than says in a normal tone.

Percy winces. “Look, half of those times weren’t really because I wanted to. They just sorta happened?” He shrugs, shoving his hands into his pockets, turning his eyes to the sky so his blue crown threatens to fall off his head. “But that should have been the first time. We were going to Hades--er, your dad. It was my first quest.”

“You went to the Underworld on your first quest.” Hazel’s brows shoot up to her hairline.

Frank gives a low whistle. “Now I’m not so jealous of you.”

Percy puffs up his cheeks in a way that reminds Hazel of some of the little boys from St. Agnes. “Hey now, this quest was rough for a first go round too!” He says, shoving at the son of Mars. The boys dissolve into laughter shortly after, and Hazel finds herself joining them.

As best he can, Percy explains the quest--the theft he’d been blamed for, the realization of who was truly behind it. Frank seems disturbed by what the Greek form of his father had done, but Percy quickly assures him that Mars probably wouldn’t have done such a thing.

“I just…” Percy says eventually. “It’s just such a small world. Who would have thought I’d have a brush with you, Hazel, years before we met for real?”

“Maybe it was destiny.” Hazel laces her fingers together behind her back, her eyes drifting to the sky above, the rainbow above the city and the darkening clouds above it.

“A taste of it, anyway.” Frank agrees. His arm brushes against Hazel’s, and her skin tingles at the point where their arms connected.

“I’m glad I did eventually meet you. Both of you.” Hazel glances over to see a small, fond smile on Percy’s face.

Hazel feels her face flush. She punches Percy lightly in the arm. “Stop it, you.”

They continue their walk for a while, both Hazel and Frank asking Percy about his past. They comment a little on the damage in the city, on some of the things that happened on the quest.

Hazel has to admit, though--she’s glad that Percy bows out when he does. She’s not sure that Frank asking her out on a formal date would have made her so happy if their friend had been there with them.

**Author's Note:**

> you can find me on tumblr at x-eternalmagic or howdomaddie, and on twitter as @howdomaddie! if you enjoyed this, please leave me a comment and tell me what you liked most! i promise it will make my day.


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